Saturday NBA: Warriors' Draymond Green ejected after Donovan Mitchell incident
San Francisco — The Cleveland Cavaliers stayed poised when things turned testy, and that showed J.B. Bickerstaff plenty about his team at this early stage.
Donovan Mitchell got the best of Golden State and ex-Spartan Draymond Green, finishing with 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals on a night Green was ejected, and the Cavs beat the Warriors 118-110 on Saturday.
Green pushed Mitchell with his shoulder and sent him out of bounds as Cleveland’s Caris LeVert drove for a layup. Then, as Green brought the ball across midcourt moments later, Mitchell chased him down and instigated a heated interaction.
“I think that was a little bit of a dirty play so Donovan retaliated,” Cavs forward Evan Mobley said.
Officials went to replay review and that's how they determined Green's infraction, calling Mitchell for a personal foul.
“I didn’t know that was actually possible that you could get tech’ed up for a previous play,” Warriors big man Kevon Looney said.
Bickerstaff talks to his team about how to handle such situations.
“It’s our guys standing up for themselves and protecting themselves,” Bickerstaff said. “There was a play before where Donovan was hit in the back. And we’ve talked about it, that we don’t back down from anybody.
"So, again, proud of our guys for standing up for themselves but then again not letting it turn the tide of the game and getting caught up in something that we didn’t need to be caught up in and allowing them to go on a run. That was premediated to get their team kind of rallied. You felt that building the entire third quarter. I thought it could have been nipped in the bud a little bit earlier.”
Stephen Curry scored 30 points to lead the Warriors, who lost fiery forward Green at the 6:23 mark of the third quarter with eight points, five rebounds and four assists.
LeVert scored 22 points, and Darius Garland contributed 19 points, six rebounds, four assists with five steals. Mobley added 19 points and two more of his team's season-high 13 steals in one of the most balanced performances by Cleveland yet this season.
Not to mention its first win on the Warriors' home floor since March 14, 2014, and first series sweep since 2008-09. Cleveland earned a 115-104 victory at home last Sunday.
Curry has gone 10 straight games with four or more 3-pointers to start the season, the first time it's been done in NBA history according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Curry, who scored 17 of his points in the first half as the Warriors trailed 68-52 at the break, also became the 35th player in NBA history to reach 22,000 career points.
After Green's 3-pointer with 7:01 remaining in the first half pulled Golden State within 40-38, the Cavs responded with a 14-2 burst over the next 3:04 to force a Warriors timeout.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had challenged his team to do better stopping the transition game – inspired a day after watching his son, Nicholas, earn his first win guiding the G League Santa Cruz Warriors. Kerr acknowledged he yelled at the referees a couple of times.
“It was a great moment for him and as a dad, couldn’t be more proud,” Kerr said.
Golden State grabbed five of its 15 offensive rebounds by the 4:52 mark of the opening quarter – a point of emphasis coming in from Bickerstaff.
Green picked up his first technical of the night with 7:46 before halftime. He now has a team-high three on the season.
More Saturday games
(At) Orlando 112, Milwaukee 97: Paolo Banchero had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Orlando’s Wagner brothers (Michigan) combined for 43 points to hand the Bucks their second straight loss.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, two nights after a 54-point effort in Thursday’s loss at Indiana.
The Bucks played a second game without Damian Lillard, who has a sore left calf.
Franz Wagner scored 24 for the Magic and Mo Wagner came off the bench with 19 points and four rebounds. Jalen Suggs hit 4 of 8 3-point shots and added 20 points.
The loss broke Milwaukee’s 14-game win streak against the Magic and marked the Bucks first loss in Orlando since March 14, 2018.
(At) Boston 117, Toronto 94: Jaylen Brown scored 29 points, Jayson Tatum had 27 and Boston cruised past Toronto.
Kristaps Porzingis added 21 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes for the Celtics, who won their second straight after a 14-point victory over Brooklyn in their first NBA In-Season Tournament game on Friday night.
Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 17 points and seven rebounds. Dennis Schroder had 14 points and Jakob Poeltl 12.
Toronto, which had won its last two games – both on the road – shot just 10 for 37 on 3-point attempts.
Miami 117, (at) Atlanta 109: Bam Adebayo had 26 points and 17 rebounds and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. added a career-high 20 points as short-handed Miami beat Atlanta for its fourth straight win.
Miami was playing its first game since leading scorer Tyler Herro sprained his right ankle in Wednesday night’s 108-102 win at Memphis. Herro is expected to miss at least two weeks. Another top scorer, Jimmy Butler, missed the game against Atlanta for personal reasons.
The Heat showed off their depth to find scoring from different sources.
Kyle Lowry scored 17 points and Josh Richardson had 16, also a season high. Duncan Robinson scored 11 points in his first start of the season.
Trae Young led Atlanta with 27 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, and 11 assists. Dejounte Murray had 23 points.
Oubre Jr. hit by vehicle
Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. sustained undisclosed injuries after being struck by a vehicle Saturday, the team said, and is expected to miss significant playing time.
The 27-year-old Oubre was transported to a hospital in stable condition after being hit, and released a few hours later. The teams says he is not expected to miss the rest of the season, but did not provide information on his injuries.
The Sixers said Oubre was walking near his residence in downtown Philadelphia when he struck.
The Philladelphia Police said in an email to The Associated Press that Oubre was struck at about 7 p.m. while crossing the street at Broad and Locust streets in Center City, and that he was taken to Jefferson Hospital. Police said there is an active investigation into the incident. 6ABC in Philadelphia reported police saying a silver vehicle fled the scene after the accident.
Oubre is in his first season with the 76ers and has averaged 16.8 points in the first eight games. He was the 15th overall pick of the 2015 draft and has played with four other teams.
The 76ers are home Sunday and play Indiana.